Crowds continue to gather at Apple stores for iPad 2 launch

Apple fans continue to line the streets of London hours before the launch of the iPad 2, with well over 350 outside the Regent Street store alone.

The first 14 fans were sat directly outside the store, with the bulk of the queue continuing along Hanover Street and St Georges Street.

Some of the more business savvy customers will be buying two and selling either one or both to make a quick buck.

Dozens of people including those below braved the temperatures and queued overnight without sleep. By the time the iPad goes on sale, they will have waited over 24 hours.

Staff shut the store at 3pm in order to prepare for the launch of the iPad 2, and will reopen at 5pm.

Meanwhile, down at Covent Garden it's a similar picture with at least 200 plus people basking in the sunshine awaiting their iPad 2.

The Apple staff were treating those waiting for 5pm to croissants and tea and coffee from nearby restaurants, as a good natured atmosphere prevailed.

V3.co.uk spoke with one member of the queue, Rich Morgan, a 32 year-old from Hong Kong, who was on holiday in London and wandered past the store at around midday, and decided to queue.

"The iPad 2 won't be in Hong Kong for a while yet so I thought I'd pick one up when I saw that the queue was quite short when I came past," he said.

"It's a bit of a waste of half a day of my vacation but it's something of an experience to do this. I don't own the original iPad but I'll use this one for web browsing, Skype calling and  applications."

Mr Morgan added that no other tablet he had seen had really caught his imagination, adding that he was planning on buying a 32GB and 64GB Wi-Fi and 3G model of the device.

"I don't think I'm being suckered in to anything. They've brought out a really good product that's super sleek and has great functionality," he added.

25 Mar 2011